Academic Centre
Students come to Latvia from various countries in the frames of Erasmus+ mobility programme: from Germany, the USA, Australia, Italy, France, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, Poland, Lithuania, and from many others.
The Centre of Applied Linguistics offers international students to acquire the practical Latvian language at different levels (from A1 to B2) in the frames of a 6 ECTS course. The majority of students learn Latvian for one semester at A1 level, since their Erasmus period lasts for one semester. However, there are students who stay longer, or who at their home universities study Latvian or Baltic philology (mostly they are from Poland or Lithuania). These students are offered an opportunity to participate in the course of Latvian as a higher level, A2 or B1.
Three teachers of the Faculty of Humanities are teaching the course of the practical Latvian language at the moment: Ilona Gorņeva, Iveta Narodovska and Evelīna Zilgalve. The students who participate in the course say that the courses are useful, since they help to understand the Latvian culture better. Moreover, the students emphasize that it is worth learning a local language, living and studying abroad.
“It is not easy to learn Latvian”, says Iveta Narodovska, assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities, “the grammar differs from other languages. Therefore, it is a great pleasure to see the students’ progress, when at the end of the course they can speak about themselves, their interests and studies in Latvian. It is always sad to say goodbye to students, with whom you spend so much time, establish close contact, and reach mutual understanding”.
Iveta Narodovska reveals that the knowledge of other languages helps to teach Latvian to international students. “My German, Russian, English and Polish language skills are quite useful for communicating with international students,” emphasizes I. Narodovska.
The courses of the practical Latvian language are open not only for international students, but also for attendees. For instance, for those foreigners who are living and working in Latvia at the moment.
 of international students are learning the practical Latvian language.){kind=link}